Ask Ryan: Kurt Russell's A Pro & More

Welcome back for another edition of Ask Ryan, the column where sports and entertainment go together like heartbreak and ice cream. This week’s mailbag is bursting at the seams with queries about Kurt Russell’s baseball career, the origins of March Madness and the greatest college ballers of all time. On to your questions!

the computer wore baseball cleats

Is it true that Kurt Russell used to be a professional baseball player?

Ben, Baton Rouge, LA

That’s correct, Ben. A professional actor since the age of 12, Kurt Russell spent much of his youth shuttling between sound lots and sand lots. “I was great at the game and the best there was in the neighborhood,” he recalls. “I was born to play baseball." Russell was given the chance to prove just that in 1971, when he was signed by the California Angels and assigned to play with the Class A Bend Rainbows in the Northwest League. The gritty second baseman made the most of his audition and he was named to the league’s All-Star game after hitting .285 with 1 HR, 14 RBI and 30 runs scored in 179 at-bats. Russell spent the next season with the Walla Walla Islanders, where he continued to impress scouts and coaches alike by hitting .325. "I could move runners," Russell says. "When it came to hitting I was professional. I was a good hitter, and out in the field my range was real good to my left, OK to my right. I knew the game, inside and out." Former teammate and current baseball coach Tom Trebelhorn is quick to agree with Russell’s self-assessment. "Kurt could hit — that was strength,” he says. “He was a switch hitter and had very good bat accuracy — he could put the bat on the ball."

Russell’s proficiency at the plate didn’t go unnoticed, and he earned a call up in 1973 to The El Paso Sun Kings, where he hit a league-leading .563 in his first 16 at bats. Sadly, his season came to an abrupt end in June of that year when he tore his rotator cuff in a violent collision at second base. The unfortunate injury forced Russell to reassess his career goals. “After I got hurt in baseball and couldn’t pursue it as a profession, I wondered if acting could become important to me in terms of my life and career, and mean as much to me as baseball,” he says. “It did, I loved it and I am thankful for that. It just took time to get over baseball.” Russell has since starred in more than 40 feature films, including 2004’s Miracle, an outstanding feel-good flick about the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team.

Ryan

start spreading the news

Hey Ryan, did you hear a new poll has found that more New Yorkers are fans of the Red Sox than they are of the Knicks?

lions and tigers and bears, oh my!

Not exactly, but many of them do receive scholarships. The University of Mississippi is one of many schools that offers $1,000 per semester for students who are willing to play dress-up on the sidelines. Life is even sweeter at academic institutions like the University of Texas at Arlington, where they give a free ride to the two undergrads willing to suffer heat strokes in their Sam and Samantha Maverick costumes. These “lucky” students also receive travel expenses, uniforms, shoes, camp registration fees, a physical education credit, and the unparalleled chance to sweat off 25 pounds during a game. Students who manage to graduate to the professional ranks can look forward to earning anywhere between $25,000 to $100,000 per year, plus benefits. No wonder professional mascots have such big heads! Ryan